'Not guilty' pleas for men accused of killing 8-year-old Oakland girl

By Paul T. Rosynsky Oakland Tribune

Posted:
11/19/2013 06:37:41 AM PST

Updated:
11/19/2013 06:38:13 AM PST

OAKLAND -- Two men accused of killing an 8-year-old girl who answered the front door during a sleepover at an Oakland apartment in July pleaded not guilty Monday to murder and several other felonies. A preliminary hearing in the case is scheduled for January.

Darnell Williams, 22, the alleged shooter, and Joe Carroll, 27, the alleged accomplice, both pleaded not guilty to murder for killing Alaysha Carradine in a botched attempt to seek revenge for the murder of a 26-year-old in Berkeley earlier in the day.

Carradine and another friend had just answered the door at an apartment on Wilson Avenue when Williams is accused of firing his gun as soon as the children opened the door. The bullets pierced the apartment's metal gate and hit four of the five people inside.

Alaysha was killed. A 7-year-old girl, 4-year-old boy, and their 64-year-old grandmother were all wounded.

Court documents show that Williams went to the apartment in search for a man he and Carroll believed was responsible for the murder of Jermaine Davis. Court documents also show that the pair also knew the apartment could have children inside but that they "did not care."